The internet these days is a pretty toxic environment, especially after last week's election. People are spreading virulent hate and making the world a dark place, a place I do not think should exist.
Thankfully, November 13 is World Kindness Day. This day is dedicated to random acts of kindness, striving to make it the norm. In our current state, it seems pretty clear that we need a day of the year dedicated to kindness. That is a problem.
Young children are taught at a young age that it takes all different people to make the world go round. As adults, that lesson goes out the window. People are judged based on their political ideas, sexuality, gender, and physical appearance. Preexisting notions dictate the way we view someone and in turn the way we treat them.
Thankfully, we have a day dedicated to kindness. Shouldn't we live every day practicing kindness? Why do we need a day in which the world tells us to partake in simple tasks which uplift someone else?
The Random Acts of Kindness websites lists seven ways to make kindness part of your daily life. One of their suggestions includes sending an uplifting text to a friend or member of your family or letting a stranger into traffic. Another one is trying to incorporate kindness and laughter into your day or get out of your comfort zone to make someone smile, compliment a friend or someone you work with, reach out to someone you haven't talked to in a while. The last one they suggest is to even treat someone to a coffee like a friend or even a total stranger.
Not including the last one, I try to incorporate these practices into my daily life, not just on a day the world tells me I should. Shouldn't this be the norm, not the oddity? Granted it is difficult to let someone in front of you when traffic sucks and you're running late especially when few others retaliate. But what about making people smile? You never know how that simple act will affect someone or their day.
Try to live every day and World Kindness Day. I think we need to practice simple kindness more than ever in today's crazy and mean world. I am tired of logging on to Facebook and seeing negative comments about who won an election, or the new policy changes. Obviously, it is important to stay informed about the political climate, but for every bad thing you see online which makes you feel sad, I encourage you to do one nice thing to make someone else feel good and smile.
Enjoy World Kindness Day!
